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Security forces in Ukraine have accused the Russian army of disrupting mobile communications.

Smaller-scale attacks have seen news websites and social media defaced with propaganda messages.

Cyber-attacks were utilised heavily during Russia's 2008 conflict with Georgia.

In that case, distributed denial of service attacks - known as DDoS - were used to overwhelm websites and servers in Georgia in the weeks leading up to the military action.

The Georgian government said Russia was behind the DDoS attacks, but the Kremlin denied this - stating that it was possible for anyone, inside or outside Russia, to launch such an attack.

Tampering On Tuesday, Ukrainian authorities confirmed that communication networks had been targeted, the first significant disruption of technology.

"I confirm that an... attack is under way on mobile phones of members of the Ukrainian parliament for the second day in a row," Ukrainian security chief Valentyn Nalivaichenko told journalists.

"At the entrance to [telecoms firm] Ukrtelecom in Crimea, illegally and in violation of all commercial contracts, was installed equipment that blocks my phone as well as the phones of other deputies, regardless of their political affiliation."

In addition, Ukrtelecom said its premises were raided last week by armed men, and fibre optic cabling was tampered with, causing loss of service for some users. Russian security services have not commented on whether they were behind either incident.

Security experts have speculated that Russia may be exercising restraint with its cyber-capabilities.

Marty Martin, a former senior operations officer with the US Central Intelligence Agency, said more extreme cyber-attacks may only take place if violence escalated.

"A lot of times you don't want to shut things down," he told Reuters.

"If you do that, then you don't get your flow of intelligence. You are probably better off monitoring it."

What we are unlikely to see, experts say, is cyber-attacks of the same scale as in 2007, when Estonia suffered a 10-day attack on its internet services, causing major disruptions to its financial system.

"I've never seen worse corporate governance than eBay," Icahn told CNBC television. Icahn, who has a 2.15 percent stake in eBay, is known for taking large stakes in companies and pushing for management change.

Icahn also said that eBay chief executive John Donahoe should not have control over PayPal, the company's fast-growing payments business.

Icahn has called for the company to spin off PayPal. He has publicly feuded with eBay over its 2009 sale of a majority stake in online phone service Skype to private investors, including eBay board member Marc Andreessen's venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.

Icahn, who has criticized Andreessen for profiting from the subsequent sale of Skype to Microsoft for $8.5 billion in 2011, told CNBC that he "might blame Donahoe more than Andreessen for letting it happen."

Donahoe told Fox Business Network on Wednesday that eBay's corporate governance was on "very solid ground" and reiterated that eBay and PayPal benefit from being a single entity.

"We know this is sort of the antics that Carl uses and that's fine," Donahoe said, and said that "the synergies with eBay are the strongest synergies you'll find with PayPal in any other company."

Icahn, whose investment firm has a stake of more than $4 billion in Apple Inc., reiterated Wednesday that the company was undervalued and said that chief executive Tim Cook was "doing a good job."

The cabinet will decide on Friday how to treat bitcoins under existing laws, said people familiar with the matter, adding that banks and securities firms will not be able to handle bitcoin as part of their main business, suggesting the crypto-currency will be treated more as a commodity, like gold.

Japan has struggled to define its approach to bitcoin since the collapse of Mt. Gox, which filed for bankruptcy protection in Tokyo on Friday, saying it had lost bitcoins and cash worth some half a billion dollars due to hacker attacks on what it said was its lax computer system security.

Bitcoin, a digital currency that is traded on a peer-to-peer network independent of central control, has engendered a wave of creative criminality - from bitcoin theft by hacking online platforms to potentially using the crypto-currency in money laundering, bribery and buying illicit products. Its value has soared in the past year, and the total worth of bitcoins minted is now about $7 billion.

Flexcoin, a Canada-based bitcoin bank, said on Tuesday it was closing after it lost $600,000 worth of the online currency - all the bitcoins it stored - to hacker theft.

TAXING PROBLEM

Japanese authorities are looking at possibly taxing bitcoin transactions, but it remains unclear how they could do this, given that one of the attractions of using bitcoin is that transactions are largely anonymous.

"We haven't yet thoroughly grasped the situation, but some kind of regulation is needed from the perspective of consumer protection, and we will also discuss (bitcoin) from the perspective of imposing asset tax," said Takuya Hirai, head of an IT panel in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

The panel heard on Wednesday from consultant Deloitte about bitcoin and from officials of the Consumer Affairs Agency, the Financial Services Agency (FSA) the Finance Ministry, central bank, Cabinet Office and the National Police Agency about the Mt. Gox collapse, Hirai told reporters.

The site said it will remove posts from users who "indicate a willingness" to break the law - like requiring no background check - to sell firearms.

Access to posts related to sale of guns and other regulated items will be restricted to users over the age of 18.

Facebook has been under pressure from lobbying groups to alter its policy on such posts.

While the website is not an e-commerce platform, people use it to promote their goods and solicit buyers.

"People sometimes use our free tools to discuss products that are regulated or controversial," the firm said in a blog post.

It said that people had expressed concerns about the offers "for the private sales of firearms" on the site.

"It is one of many areas where we face a difficult challenge balancing individuals' desire to express themselves on our services, and recognizing that this speech may have consequences elsewhere."

The firm said that it had worked with various stakeholders to develop the new rules which will be enforced in the coming weeks.

Under the guidelines, private sellers of firearms in the US will not be permitted to specify "no background check required", nor can they offer to transact across state lines "without a licensed firearms dealer".

Chief Election Commissioner V.S. Sampath said 814 million people had registered to vote, a number exceeding the population of Europe and a world record. Results are due on May 16.

In Delhi and a regional city, supporters of a young anti-corruption party battled members of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The clashes with stones and clubs bloodied several people on both sides. Police used water cannons on protesters.

The violence broke out after police detained the leader of the anti-corruption Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party (AAP) during a campaign in Modi's state of Gujarat. Small groups of supporters gathered outside BJP offices to protest his detention.

"We came in a peaceful manner, we stood outside, they shut the gates. We shouted slogans: 'Have shame Narendra Modi'," said AAP activist Shazia Ilmi. "They started throwing stones from inside." The BJP blamed the AAP protesters for the fighting.

The election campaign coincides with growing anger among urban Indians over corruption, as well as a sense that the center-left government led by the Congress party has frittered away opportunities for rapid growth.

Modi has emerged in opinion polls as the favorite to head the next government, buoyed by his strong economic track record as chief minister of Gujarat, a west coast state.

"I think everyone is looking for strong leadership. This places Modi at an advantage. He's showing that he's a strong leader," said Mohan Guruswamy of the Centre for Policy Alternatives, a Delhi-based think-tank.

SETTING AGENDA

Born of a street movement against graft scandals related to the sale of natural resources over the last decade, the AAP has also gained ground, alleging corruption in both main parties.

It may not win many seats, but is setting the election agenda by harping on high utility prices and crony capitalism.

Exuding self-confidence, Modi has won the support of many middle-class Indians who even a year ago would not have voted for a man accused by critics of failing to stop, or even tacitly encouraging, a spasm of Hindu-Muslim bloodshed in Gujarat in 2002. Modi has denied any wrongdoing and the Supreme Court has said there is not enough evidence to pursue investigations.

However, India's fragmented political landscape and first-past-the-post system in parliamentary polls makes results hard to predict, meaning a BJP victory is by no means assured.

The independent investigators, presenting their latest report documenting atrocities in Syria, called again on the U.N. Security Council to refer grave violations of the rules of war to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for prosecution.

"The Security Council bears responsibility for not addressing accountability and allowing the warring parties to violate these rules with total impunity," Paulo Pinheiro, who leads the U.N. commission of inquiry, told a news conference.

"One of most stark trends we have documented is the use of siege warfare, the denial of humanitarian aid, food and basic necessities such as medical care and clean water have forced people to choose between surrender and starvation."

More than 140,000 have been killed in the conflict, which enters its fourth year next week, 2.5 million refugees have fled abroad and 6.5 million people are uprooted within Syria.

Divided world powers have backed both sides in the conflict and a diplomatic deadlock has exacerbated the bloodshed.

Fighters and their commanders may be held accountable, but also states which transfer weapons to Syria, the report said.

Syrian government forces under President Bashar al-Assad have besieged towns including the Old City of Homs, shelling relentlessly and depriving them of food as part of a "starvation until submission" campaign, the report said.

It said the Syrian air force had dropped barrel bombs on Aleppo with "shocking intensity", killing hundreds of civilians and injuring many more.

"I remember most vividly speaking to a doctor who was treating survivors of barrel bomb attacks. Some victims including infants had lost limbs," said Pinheiro.

Insurgents fighting to topple Assad, especially foreign Islamic fighters including the al-Qaeda affiliated ISIS, have stepped up attacks on civilians, taken hostages, executed prisoners and set off car bombs to spread terror, it said.

The report, covering July 15-January 20, is the seventh by the United Nations since the inquiry was set up in September 2011, six months after the anti-Assad revolt began.

The investigators have not been allowed into Syria, but their latest findings were based on 563 interviews conducted by Skype or by telephone with victims and witnesses still in the country or in person with refugees in surrounding countries.

FOUR LISTS OF SUSPECTS

Another indication of the weather's impact came in the Federal Reserve's anecdotal Beige Book on Wednesday. The U.S. central bank described the economy's expansion in recent weeks as "modest to moderate," with bad weather causing a "slight" decline in activity in two of 12 districts.

Economists were little fazed by the downbeat reports. They said the economy's fundamentals were still sound, and that a string of mostly weak data would not dissuade the Fed from continuing to dial back its monetary stimulus.

"We continue to believe that the underlying momentum in the economy remains favorable, and we look for the pace of growth to rebound meaningfully in the coming months as the drag on activity from the unseasonably cold weather abates," said Millan Mulraine, deputy chief economist at TD Securities in New York.

A report from payrolls processor ADP showed private employment increased by a tepid 139,000 jobs last month. At the same time, private-sector jobs growth in January was revised down sharply to 127,000 from 175,000.

Moody's Analytics, joint developers of the report, blamed harsh weather for last month's reading, which was below the 160,000 jobs that economists had expected.

The report came ahead of the government's comprehensive employment report on Friday and raised the prospect of a third straight month of sub-par nonfarm payrolls gains in February, though economists said the ADP data was not a good predictor.

A Reuters survey conducted last week forecast employers added 150,000 workers to their payrolls last month, up from the similarly weather-depressed gains of 113,000 in January and 75,000 in December.

In a separate report, the Institute for Supply Management said its services sector index fell to 51.6 last month, the weakest reading since February 2010, from 54 in January. It blamed bad weather for the moderation in activity.

Still, February marked the 50th month in a row the index was above 50, the level that separates expansion and contraction.

A sub-index of services sector employment contracted for the first time since December 2011 and recorded its worst reading in nearly four years.

CIO Beth Jacob is the first high-level executive to leave the company following the breach, which led to the theft of about 40 million credit and debit card records and 70 million other records of customer details.

Jacob, who comes from a sales background and has been CIO since 2008, will be replaced by an external hire, Target said in an email to Reuters on Wednesday.

"It's a decision that should have been made by the CEO on January 1, not through the resignation of an employee that overlooked critical weakness in the operating model," Belus Capital Advisors CEO Brian Sozzi said.

The breach at Target was the second largest at a U.S. retailer, after the theft of more than 90 million credit cards over about 18 months was uncovered in 2007 at TJX Cos Inc, operator of the T.J. Maxx and Marshalls chains.

Hacking has become a major concern for retailers in the United States. In the latest reported breach, beauty products retailer and distributor Sally Beauty Holdings Inc said on Wednesday its network had been hacked but no card or customer data appeared to have been stolen.

Target Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel said the company would elevate the role of chief information security officer as part of its plan to tighten its security.

The company will also look externally to fill that position as well as the new position of chief compliance officer.

Steinhafel said Target would be advised by security consultant Promontory Financial Group as it evaluates its technology, structure, processes and talent.

"I believe this is definitely a measure in restoring faith and really showing that they are taking the breach seriously," Heather Bearfield, who runs the cybersecurity practice for accounting firm Marcum LLP, told Reuters.

Target, the third-largest U.S. retailer, said last week customer traffic had started to improve this year after falling significantly toward the end of the holiday shopping season when news of the cyber attack spooked shoppers.

The deal marks the first time that a U.S. pay-TV operator was given the flexibility by a media company to offer its content over the web via smartphones, tablets and computers.

"The Dish/Disney deal appears to set the stage for a new wave of broadband-delivered video services. Disney has protected "the bundle" but we will soon see the first of many virtual MVPDs," Richard Greenfield, BTIG analyst, said.

The companies said Dish gets the right to stream "linear and video on demand content" from channels such as ABC broadcast stations and cable networks such as Disney Channel and ESPN as part of an internet-delivered IP-based multichannel offering.

Until now, content owners have not granted cable or satellite TV operators the digital rights to sell their shows outside of a pay-TV subscription.

It was "one of the most complex and comprehensive" deals they have ever undertaken, said Anne Sweeney, co-chairman, Disney Media Networks.

While Dish did not give details on what its potential TV subscription over the Internet might look like or cost, there is likely a big market waiting for such a product.

North American consumers will spend $6 billion in 2014 on entertainment from over-the-top services such as Netflix, more than twice what they spent in 2010, according to PwC's annual entertainment and media forecast.

Sony Corp has been working on an Internet TV service that is expected to come out this year. Intel's efforts to launch one was recently bought by Verizon.

LAWSUITS SETTLED

Dish's chairman Charlie Ergen, long seen as a disrupter to the cable TV industry, has talked about the need to suit viewer's changing habits and has acknowledged that a small but growing number of customers are "cutting the cord" or cancelling traditional TV and just subscribing to Internet service.

Ergen had ruffled the feathers of the broadcasters by rolling out a service called "AutoHop" that lets viewers automatically skip commercials on recorded programming on its DVRs, but discontinued the service for ABC programming as part of the deal announced on Monday.

Oppenheimer, 51, who joined Apple in 1996 and has been CFO since 2004, will start handing over in June to Maestri, who joined in 2013 from Xerox Corp.

"When we were recruiting for a corporate controller, we met Luca and knew he would become Peter's successor," Cook said.

Apple's shares were up 0.6 percent in early trading.

Maestri, a 50-year-old born in Italy, spent 20 years at General Motors where he worked as CFO of several units including GM Europe. Before joining Xerox, he was CFO of network equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks.

"The transition doesn't come as too much of a surprise to us as Mr Maestri left his position as Xerox's CFO to become Apple's corporate controller, which we felt was an indication that there must be an eventual path to CFO," Wells Fargo Securities analyst Maynard Um said in a research note.

"While we view Mr Oppenheimer's retirement as a loss to the company, we expect the transition to be fairly seamless."

Oppenheimer, who was named to the board of Goldman Sachs Group Inc on Monday, said he would use some of his free time to complete his pilot's license.

Cross Research analyst Shannon Cross said Oppenheimer's move had nothing to do with his new role at Goldman Sachs.

"There is nothing there. This was absolutely a 100 percent planned transition," Cross told Reuters.

Cook noted that Apple's revenue had risen to $171 billion from $8 billion during Oppenheimer's tenure as CFO.

Maestri will take over his new role at a time when Apple has been under pressure from investors such as Carl Icahn to return much of its huge cash pile to investors and to come up with the next big thing to emulate the success of iPhone and iPad.

The company had about $160 billion cash at the end of 2013.

Apple has said it will return $100 billion to shareholders by the end of 2015 through dividends and share repurchase.

The company said in February that it had bought more than $40 billion of its shares over the past 12 months, helping to satisfy Icahn, at least for now.

Security firm Trend Micro outlines the popular methods used by Chinese gangs to make money from the mobile web.

It details how cheap some mobile malware kits can be - from as little as 100 yuan (£9.70).

Such underground forums are thriving worldwide, particularly in Russia, China and Brazil.

The Mobile Cybercriminal Underground Market report outlines some of the key businesses operating in this vast and sophisticated network. Spam devices It includes the selling of premium-rate phone numbers, which can be bought from 220,000 yuan (£21,400).

Such numbers are used in conjunction with malicious apps that reply to text messages and then delete confirmation messages so users end up paying vast sums to cybercriminals without realising.

Spam is big business in a country where 81% of Chinese internet users went online using their mobile phone in 2013.

At the end of 2013 there were 500 million mobile internet users in China, according the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC).

To launch spam campaigns, cybercriminals often use a GSM modem, a device attached via USB to a computer, which can send out text messages to multiple users.

A 16-slot GSM modem, are available for approximately $425 (£254) each, can send up to 9,600 text messages per hour.

This spam can be used to advertise various products as well as tricking users into visiting malicious websites.

The report also talks about SMS forwarders - which are Trojans designed to steal authentication or verification codes sent via text messages.

They monitor text messages sent from online payment service providers and banks and intercept authentication or verification codes which are then forwarded to cybercriminals.

Currently they only run on Android phones.

Boosting apps Apple users are also being targeted via iMessage spammers that are able to buy 1,000 spam services for as little as 100 yuan (£9.60).

Also operating on the mobile underground are app-rank boosting services, which can promote a malicious app by creating several dummy accounts to download and write good user reviews for it.

To boost an iPhone app into the top five of Apple's China app store can cost 60,000 yuan (£5,800).